high def DVD players

[LCHIEN]

I see Toshiba has dropped their HD-DVD players prices, the entry model HD-A3 is $149 MSRP and is available for $133 on Amazon this monring.
They also have their 5 free HD-DVD movie title (pick from 15 titles) rebate offer still going. Of course, the 5 DVDs takes 8-10 weeks to arrive by mail.

That would make me interested in trying one but the recent falling out of the HD-DVD camp of Warner Bros. makes me nervous... of course the price drop is a reaction to the WB news.

Then again, I'm not the world's biggest fan of Sony and their cheapest player is still $370 at Amazon.

technically, I think there's no great advantage to either system, enough to justify the price differences.

Anyone have any predictions?

[RAV2]

CES: Blu-ray, my my, is HD DVD gonna die?

http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=...leid=CA6517962

From the article: "... for all intents and purposes, ... the format war ended last Friday..."

[HarmsWay]

It sure likes like HD-DVD is dead, but I'm still holding off. OTOH, it would be a good excuse to get a PS3, since it sounds like they are the only Blueray hardware capable of accomodating all the anticipated 'profiles'. See this link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7187179.stm

[MilDoc]

Yep, my guess is that HD-DVD will go the way of Betamax VHS. Sony wins this one!

But I'm still holding out until the dust settles.

[TJG]

I'm not so sure this battle is over. At $150 or less for HD-DVD players, I think more people may be willing to take the risk. After all, on the money they save, they can start building a collection of HD-DVDs that already exist. The Warner Bros. news is big, but it's not set in stone. If HD-DVD players take off, and consequently HD-DVD sales increase, they may decide to change their minds. Studios are going to go where they can make money. If the market goes HD-DVD, the studios will adapt.

Now, if Blu-Ray players suddenly drop to $200 or less, then I think the battle would be over. The price differential wouldn't be a big factor any more and the greater support for Blu-Ray would be a difficult hurdle for HD-DVD. Until that happens, it could still go either way.

[LCHIEN]

The problem is that the makers are vested in their hardware choice, Sony owns the patents to blue-laser technology and Toshiba owns the patents to red-laser technology used in HD-DVDs and DVDs. Before that Sony-Phillips owned the patents to the CD technology. Its the royalties they are after, that make them money long after they cease being the leading manufacturers and the players become comodity items. Then Sony or Toshiba hope to claim royalties from the studios and the companies that make cheap players.

as it stands now the Blue ray technology is newer and more costly, there's an edge in storage capacity but some factors of blue ray are still evolving. The Red-laser technology in HD-DVD is more mature so Toshiba can sell the machines cheaper. Warner won't cut off HD-DVD until May, so if there's a big surge they can still change their mind. There must be big money changing hands behind the scenes between the makers and the studios!

TJG has a point...
And sony would have to swallow a big one to drop BR players under $200. I think the low HD-DVD price and free DVD promos will keep Toshiba in the hunt a little longer.

[Ed62]

I think I'll just hold off until the battle is over, if it ever is. I still have my antique DVD player, and although it isn't HD, I can view both formats (I think).

Ed

[MilDoc]

The big problem is if you choose the loser in this battle and buy a bunch of the "wrong" DVDs, you're stuck. Just like with Beta VHS tapes when it bit the dust.

Bluray really did a number releasing their technology "too soon" to compete with HD-DVD. Newer players have better features, and the next generation will be even better.

What it really boils down to is DVD support - who has the most titles available. As far as I know, BR is ahead and will probably stay that way.

[Pakaderm]

The big problem is if you choose the loser in this battle and buy a bunch of the "wrong" DVDs, you're stuck. Just like with Beta VHS tapes when it bit the dust.

You're not really stuck. You can continue to watch those DVDs on that player. You won't have to rebuy those DVDs on the other format. You'll just have to buy both players instead of just one, and buy DVDs for the format of the new player.

In 10 years when the loser player breaks, that's when you're out of luck. But there will be another format by then anyway!

-Pak

[stormdog74]

From what I have read HD DVD is also an excellent regular DVD upconverter, so if you have HDTV and don't have an upconverting DVD player, then it MIGHT be worth it as you can rent HD DVDs (probably for a while yet) and wait out the fallout relatively inexpensively. If HD DVD wins (unlikely at this point), then you win big. If not, then you didn't spend a lot and you will at least have a spare dvd player for another TV.

That said, I just bought my first HDTV and am leaning toward an upconverting DVD recorder (I would like to transfer a number of VHS tapes to DVD) rather than an HD DVD player, but I am still undecided at this point.

By the way, I heard Costco had HD DVD players for $130 and I know they have a pretty good Toshiba DVD recorder for $99.

[BasementJunkie]

I'm holding off. The cost of the HD-DVD player is tempting, but I still have boxes of old VHS movies sitting unused in the basement.

If you do take the plunge, I'd recommend NOT buying discs and just using Netflix to watch your HD movies (other than the free ones, that is).

[vaking]

There is another consideration here. As Loring stated - this is about royalties being milk cow long after the dust settles. Royalties come from 2 sources - equipment makers and content providers (studios) The battle between Beta vs VHS was decided by the JVC making VHS nearly royalty free, so title makers did not need to pay. Sony failed to match and Beta died. Where studios will go depends on which patent holder will give them sweeter deal. Cost of equipment might not be that significant - consider how many movie titles you will buy over the years.

[Toolhound]

The HD-DVD players will play SD DVDs and upscale them on an HDMI connection to a near HD quality (Upscaling usually is restricted on component connections by the DVD authoring). Even if the format dies out you still have a fairly high end DVD player. I don't think Blue Ray players even play SD DVDs, so that you will still need a SD DVD player for your old disks anyway. If you figure that the 5 free HD-DVDs by mail are worth $15 - $20 each if you were to purchase them, then with the new pricing on the player, you're really getting it for about $30 - $50. I don't see much downside in this equation.

[rjwaldren]

Picked up HD-A3 the night before Thanksgiving. The quality is fantastic as a HD-Player and an upconverting DVD player. I sat down and watched the 300 HD-DVD on the new Sony 60" and it was amazing. But as a test, I popped in the regular DVD version - You had to look pretty hard to tell them apart from a safe viewing distance. Up to date movies @480p upscale very well - some classics not so well.

Hindsight 20/20 - I'd save the money and get a good upconverting player and stick with regular DVD's if I had it to do over. I'm not disappointed, it's a great player, but down the road regular DVD's will still work on whichever player wins the war - So I won't be spending the extra to build up a HD-DVD collection right now.

[TJG]

Rumor has it the Toshiba is going to give up on the HD DVD format.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsO...080216?sp=true


I've also heard that it hasn't been confirmed, so nothing is certain. Still, it looks like Blu-Ray is the format getting all the attention from studios and retailers. It looks like the scales are starting to tip in that direction.